Summary of Stage Two Children Article, Article Review Example

Stage two children are usually two to five years of age and can normally be found in day care, preschool, kindergarten or Head Start.  In this stage children learn to think and relate in new ways as they explore, talk and play.  Most of their behavioural responses are motivated by their value of the attention and approval of adults. Success with their mastering new tasks and receiving encouragement and recognition from adults is essential for self-esteem to develop.

Children enter this stage with limited self confidence, self esteem, and cause and effect knowledge.  Impulsive behaviour is typical.  Frustrations are acted out on adults, including those who solve their problems and meet their needs (known as valued adults). Stage two children have limited communication, are restless, have short attention spans and are generally disorganized. There are, however, seven characteristics that must be developed before a child enters first grade; namely, confidence, curiosity, intentionality, self control, relatedness, capacity to communicate and cooperativeness.

Stage two is often a difficult and stressful time, especially for vulnerable children such as Elizabeth and Jose.  Developmental therapy and Developmental teaching programs are designed to turn around self-defeating concepts of inadequacy by providing abundant opportunities for successful participation thereby increasing a child’s self-esteem.  If a solid foundation of attachment is formed, separation and individuation (the process of differentiating oneself from others) can occur and gradually lead to autonomy, as does success in doing, saying and caring.

Early in Stage two, object permanence, one of the most significant foundations for thinking, is formed.  Children know that people and objects can exist even if they are no longer  seen. When assertion of will, an important step in self validation, occurs, it is often interpreted as a negative period or the terrible twos.  Children’s concerns about personal adequacy can become a major anxiety, one that is somewhat alleviated through imaginary friends and other fantasies.

Behaviour milestones in Stage Two are waiting, listening, following directions, and accepting praise without inappropriate behaviour.  The communication milestone is to use words rather than physical actions to influence others. The socialization milestone is to participate successfully with others in games and other activities.  Stage Two (Pre)academics/cognition milestones are to participate with self-help, motor coordination, language, and the mental processes of discrimination, sequencing, and numeration. As these skills are mastered, children  achieve a sense of adequacy and believe that schoolwork is something they can do successfully